UPDATE, followed by a dense paragraph. It read:
ZAIRE EMBASSY WASHINGTON
STATES EASTERN BORDERS VIA
RWANDA CLOSED / NO EXPLANATION
/ PRESUMPTION 101 AMIN TROOPS
FLEEING TANZANIAN
INVASION UGANDA INTO EASTERN
ZAIRE / CONSEQUENT DISRUPTION
/
BUT FACTS DIFFER / LOCAL
TRIBES {KIGANI} ON RAMPAGE /
REPORTED
ATROCITIES AND CANNIBALISM ETC
/ FOREST-DWELLING PYGMIES
UNRELIABLE / KILLING ALL
VISITORS CONGO RAIN FOREST /
ZAIRE
GOVERNMENT DISPATCHED GENERAL
MUGURU (AKA BUTCHER OF
STAN- LEYVILLE) / PUT DOWN
KIGANI REBELLION `AT ALL
COSTS' /
SITUATION HIGHLY UNSTABLE /
ONLY LEGAL ENTRY INTO ZAIRE
NOW
WEST THROUGH KINSHASA / YOU
ARE ON YOUR OWN / ACQUISITION
WHITE HUNTER
MUNRO NOW PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE
WHATEVER COST / KEEP HIM
FROM CONSORTIUM WILL PAY
ANYTHING / YOUR SITUATION
EXTREME
DANGER / MUST HAVE MUNRO TO
SURVIVE /
She stared at the screen. It was the worst possible news. She said, "Have you got a time course?"
EURO-JAPANESE CONSORTIUM NOW
COMPRISES MORIKAWA (JAPAN) /
GERLICH (GERMANY) / VOORSTER
(AMSTERDAM) / UNFORTUNATELY
HAVE RESOLVED
DIFFERENCES NOW IN COMPLETE
ACCORD / MONITORING US
CANNOT
ANTICIPATE SECURE
TRANSMISSIONS ANYTIME
HENCEFORTH /
ANTICIPATE ELECTRONIC
COUNTERMEASURES AND WARFARE
TACTICS IN PURSUIT OF TWO-B
GOAL / THEY WILL ENTER CONGO
(RELIABLE SOURCE) WITHIN 48
HOURS NOW SEEKING MUNRO /
"When will they reach Tangier?" she asked.
"In six hours. You?"
"Seven hours. And Munro?"
"We don't know about Munro," Travis said. "Can you booby him?"
"Absolutely," Ross said. "I'll arrange the booby now. If Munro doesn't see things our way, I promise you it'll be seventy-two hours before he's allowed out of the country."
"What've you got?" Travis asked.
"Czech submachine guns. Found on the premises, with his prints on them, carefully applied. That should do it."
"That should do it," Travis agreed. "What about your passengers?" He was referring to Elliot and Amy.
"They're fine," Ross said. "They know nothing."
"Keep it that way," Travis said, and hung up.
4. Feeding
Time "IT'S FEEDING TIME," TRAVIS CALLED CHEERFULLY. "Who's at the trough?"
"We've got five tap dancers on Beta dataline," Rogers said. Rogers was the electronic surveillance expert, the bug catcher.
"Anybody we know?"
"Know them all," Rogers said, slightly annoyed. "Beta line is our main crosstrunk line in-house, so whoever wants to tap in to our system will naturally plug in there. You get more bits and pieces that way. Of course we aren't using Beta anymore except for routine uncoded garbage-taxes and payroll, that stuff."
"We have to arrange a feed," Travis said. A feed meant putting false data out over a tapped line, to be picked up. It was a delicate operation. "You have the consortium on the line?"
"Sure. What do you want to feed them?"
"Coordinates for the lost city," Travis said.
Rogers nodded, mopping his brow. He was a portly man who sweated profusely. "How good do you want it?"
"Damned good," Travis said. "You won't fool the Japanese with static."
"You don't want to give them the actual co-ords?"
"God, no. But I want them reasonably close. Say, within two hundred kilometers."
"Can do," Rogers said.
"Coded?" Travis said. `Of course. "
"You have a code they can break in twelve to fifteen hours?"
Rogers nodded. "We've got a dilly. Looks like hell, but then when you work it, it pops out. Got an internal weakness in concealed lettering frequency. At the other end, looks like we made a mistake, but it's very breakable."
"It can't be too easy," Travis warned.
"Oh, no, they'll earn their yen. They'll never suspect a feed. We ran it past the army and they came back all smiles, teaching us a lesson. Never knew it was a setup."
"Okay," Travis said, "put the data out, and let's feed them. I want something that'll give them a sense of confidence for the next forty-eight hours or more-until they figure out that we've screwed them."
"Delighted,"
ZAIRE EMBASSY WASHINGTON
STATES EASTERN BORDERS VIA
RWANDA CLOSED / NO EXPLANATION
/ PRESUMPTION 101 AMIN TROOPS
FLEEING TANZANIAN
INVASION UGANDA INTO EASTERN
ZAIRE / CONSEQUENT DISRUPTION
/
BUT FACTS DIFFER / LOCAL
TRIBES {KIGANI} ON RAMPAGE /
REPORTED
ATROCITIES AND CANNIBALISM ETC
/ FOREST-DWELLING PYGMIES
UNRELIABLE / KILLING ALL
VISITORS CONGO RAIN FOREST /
ZAIRE
GOVERNMENT DISPATCHED GENERAL
MUGURU (AKA BUTCHER OF
STAN- LEYVILLE) / PUT DOWN
KIGANI REBELLION `AT ALL
COSTS' /
SITUATION HIGHLY UNSTABLE /
ONLY LEGAL ENTRY INTO ZAIRE
NOW
WEST THROUGH KINSHASA / YOU
ARE ON YOUR OWN / ACQUISITION
WHITE HUNTER
MUNRO NOW PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE
WHATEVER COST / KEEP HIM
FROM CONSORTIUM WILL PAY
ANYTHING / YOUR SITUATION
EXTREME
DANGER / MUST HAVE MUNRO TO
SURVIVE /
She stared at the screen. It was the worst possible news. She said, "Have you got a time course?"
EURO-JAPANESE CONSORTIUM NOW
COMPRISES MORIKAWA (JAPAN) /
GERLICH (GERMANY) / VOORSTER
(AMSTERDAM) / UNFORTUNATELY
HAVE RESOLVED
DIFFERENCES NOW IN COMPLETE
ACCORD / MONITORING US
CANNOT
ANTICIPATE SECURE
TRANSMISSIONS ANYTIME
HENCEFORTH /
ANTICIPATE ELECTRONIC
COUNTERMEASURES AND WARFARE
TACTICS IN PURSUIT OF TWO-B
GOAL / THEY WILL ENTER CONGO
(RELIABLE SOURCE) WITHIN 48
HOURS NOW SEEKING MUNRO /
"When will they reach Tangier?" she asked.
"In six hours. You?"
"Seven hours. And Munro?"
"We don't know about Munro," Travis said. "Can you booby him?"
"Absolutely," Ross said. "I'll arrange the booby now. If Munro doesn't see things our way, I promise you it'll be seventy-two hours before he's allowed out of the country."
"What've you got?" Travis asked.
"Czech submachine guns. Found on the premises, with his prints on them, carefully applied. That should do it."
"That should do it," Travis agreed. "What about your passengers?" He was referring to Elliot and Amy.
"They're fine," Ross said. "They know nothing."
"Keep it that way," Travis said, and hung up.
4. Feeding
Time "IT'S FEEDING TIME," TRAVIS CALLED CHEERFULLY. "Who's at the trough?"
"We've got five tap dancers on Beta dataline," Rogers said. Rogers was the electronic surveillance expert, the bug catcher.
"Anybody we know?"
"Know them all," Rogers said, slightly annoyed. "Beta line is our main crosstrunk line in-house, so whoever wants to tap in to our system will naturally plug in there. You get more bits and pieces that way. Of course we aren't using Beta anymore except for routine uncoded garbage-taxes and payroll, that stuff."
"We have to arrange a feed," Travis said. A feed meant putting false data out over a tapped line, to be picked up. It was a delicate operation. "You have the consortium on the line?"
"Sure. What do you want to feed them?"
"Coordinates for the lost city," Travis said.
Rogers nodded, mopping his brow. He was a portly man who sweated profusely. "How good do you want it?"
"Damned good," Travis said. "You won't fool the Japanese with static."
"You don't want to give them the actual co-ords?"
"God, no. But I want them reasonably close. Say, within two hundred kilometers."
"Can do," Rogers said.
"Coded?" Travis said. `Of course. "
"You have a code they can break in twelve to fifteen hours?"
Rogers nodded. "We've got a dilly. Looks like hell, but then when you work it, it pops out. Got an internal weakness in concealed lettering frequency. At the other end, looks like we made a mistake, but it's very breakable."
"It can't be too easy," Travis warned.
"Oh, no, they'll earn their yen. They'll never suspect a feed. We ran it past the army and they came back all smiles, teaching us a lesson. Never knew it was a setup."
"Okay," Travis said, "put the data out, and let's feed them. I want something that'll give them a sense of confidence for the next forty-eight hours or more-until they figure out that we've screwed them."
"Delighted,"
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